Arrest made in kidnapping, murder of missing 13-year-old Lumberton girl, FBI says
An arrest has been made in the kidnapping and murder of a 13-year-old girl who went missing in Lumberton, North Carolina in November, the FBI said.
The Lumberton Police Department and the FBI have arrested 34-year-old Michael Ray McLellan in connection with the kidnapping and murder of Hania Noelia Aguilar.
McLellan was being held at the time of his arrest in law enforcement custody on charges unrelated to the case, the FBI said.
The Lumberton Police Department charged McLellan with 10 felonies on state charges including first-degree murder, first-degree forcible rape, statutory rape of a person 15 years of age or younger, first-degree sexual offense, statutory sex offense with a person 15 years or younger, first-degree kidnapping, felony larceny, felony restraint, abduction of child and concealment of a death.
Hania was forced into a family member’s idling SUV and kidnapped from her driveway in the Rosewood Mobile Home Park in Lumberton on Nov. 5.
With support from the SBI and the Robeson County Sheriff’s Office, the Lumberton Police Department and the FBI followed more than 850 leads and conducted nearly 500 interviews.
The FBI’s Lab at Quantico conducted a forensic exam of the stolen SUV, recovered on Nov. 8.
The North Carolina State Crime Lab provided preliminary test results on Hania’s body, located on Nov. 27. The results of those tests, including some received on December 7, 2018, and a thorough criminal investigation resulted in the current charges.
McLellan stood before a state magistrate at the Robeson County Detention Center in the early morning hours of Saturday.
McLellan is currently being held in the Robeson County Detention Center with no bond. McLellan will have his first court appearance at the Robeson County Courthouse at 9 a.m. Monday. Members of the media who attend the court appearance must seek permission from the judge upon arrival regarding requests to have cameras in court.
The investigation is ongoing; additional charges could be filed as the case continues. Final autopsy and toxicology reports are not complete at this time.
